76mm

You can also do this with Kindle books, just download them to your computer...easy-peasy. And honestly I don't see why this matters; I've been using a kindle for 8 years and I've never had to redownload a book unless I wanted it on a different devise, and then it generally takes less than a minute to download a book. For all the doubters, you don't even need a kindle to read kindle books--just download the free app onto your smartphone or tablet, and start reading. And for people who travel alot, it is an absolute no brainer--in my kindle I regularly carry a library of about 30 books with me (I could carry hundreds), and I choose which to read based on my mood, how much time I have, etc.--try that with paper books...

I don't get this argument at all...with a digital book it is in at least two places--on your kindle and on the cloud. You can also have it downloaded to several other devices if you want. Usually I'll have a book downloaded on my kindle and on my iPad using the kindle app; the book is synced between the two, so I can always open to the current page; sometimes I'll download to my iPhone as well. If you lose your kindle, your can re-download all of your content for free. Meanwhile things like magazines and newspapers are delivered automatically and for free via wireless. I can honestly say that living overseas, having a kindle has been a "life-changing experience"--I can get almost all of the US books, magazines, and newspapers delivered instantly--it is a huuuuuge benefit. If you're worried about the cloud "going down", presumably you mean Amazon going out of business? If you see that coming, you can just download all of your content to your devices. If it is a short-term crash, I am fully confident that Amazon will have it back up quickly, along with all of my content. Meanwhile, with a printed book if you lose it, is gone. Yes, that happened exactly once as far as I know, and that was several years ago; Amazon has promised (for whatever that is worth) that they won't do it again. To me, the tiny chance that Amazon will go bust in the forseeable future or make a regular practice of deleting purchased books are far more than offset by the benefits described above. Moreover, this feature can also work to readers' advantage, because books can be "fixed" with corrections and/or updates. Of course I also still really like a nicely printed book, but at this point I only read them sitting at home, and moreover I'm out of space on my bookshelves so have to be very selective about what new paper books to buy.

OK, but I'd like to point out that reading a kindle in bed is actually better than a book, because it is lighter and backlit, so you don't need other lighting. I've spoken with lots of people that for some reason resist reading on a kindle, but i've come to prefer kindle books to the paper versions.

cool, thanks, I will have to look out for those spots.

This book: Panzer Destroyer describes extensive use of smoke grenades by Soviet assault guns.

You can check the map database I made for CMRT (see link in signature); you can sort maps by size and terrain type ("flat"). Note that in the DB I didn't differentiate between "pretty flat" and "totally flat", so you might need to look at a few maps to find exactly what you want.

heh, as if I would trust anyone from Pyongyang.... People here are friendly enough, but in all fairness Moscow women are better-looking. Much better-looking... But of course looks aren't everything!

Thanks for the ideas. And Kohlenkau, don't give up on your Russian bride dream, I'm sure there is a wonderful girl waiting there for you somewhere...

Hey guys, thanks for the tips, especially about the movers in Bangalore.... The Munster museum sounds cool, it is definitely on the list, probably Dresden too. Will be super busy for the next few weeks, but then will start exploring the city in earnest.

After many years in Moscow, looks like I'm moving to Berlin for awhile. I haven't had much time to look yet, but from what I've seen most of the museums, etc are understandably devoted to anti war themes...but the heck with those, is there anywhere I can go see some tanks? Especially German ones? I saw more than my fair share of Russian tanks in Moscow...

While I agree that looking at WitE for CMRT. TOE and OOB would not necessarily be helpful, I don't see why researching these items could be a reason for delaying content. First, they've already done the work in CMBB, and I dub the there been much "cutting edge" research into WWII Hungarian TOE since then... second, it seems like they could outsource most of this research to players, but relying on internal resources for quality control. personally I don't care if the Hungarian platoon leader is carrying the wrong pistol or if a squad member has one too many magazines.

IIRC, the number was 50%, but its been awhile, so that might be off. If anything, it was higher. But of course that was within a campaign, not an hour long battle.

Cranky indeed. I don't think we need anything that makes TCs harder to hit, but it would be nice if TCs were a bit quicker to react to incoming fire. I've lost many TCs when bullets start pinging off the turret and yet the TCs don't consider it necessary to button up, and get waxed. Sure, we can keep TCs buttoned up all the time, or micro-manage hatch status, but it would be nice if we didn't have to.

Really? I must have missed that...that's too bad. Maybe we don't need all of the Axis minor, but at least one would be nice!

Thanks, that's helpful. I'm still wavering, but right now I'm leaning towards some kind of mid-range desktop ($1,000-1,200?); if I got a laptop I would want a desktop monitor anyway, and with my iPad, etc. I don't really need a mobile computer.

Wow, thanks so much for the responses! I am especially grateful for the info re performance on laptops and not necessarily being able to eliminate the blur line--I'd have been pretty bummed out if I'd paid $$$ for a big honking computer without any real benefit. One of the 'puters I'm looking at is the Surface Book, which can have a Nvidia GeForce graphics card. Anybody have any experience with a Surface Book?

It looks like I'll be moving soon and setting up a new household, so I'll be in the market for a new computer to play CMx2 on. I took a quick look on Amazon just to see what is out there, and found lots of huge space-ship looking boxes, which I'd prefer to avoid. CMx2 is really the only 3D game I play, so I'm not as well-versed in these issues as I should be, so I was hoping some of the forum members could give me some words of wisdom on a few issues: 1) I guess it is hopeless to expect to be able to play CMx2 (including with large maps & unit counts) on any kind of laptop? 2) Are there at least any smaller form-factor gaming computers out there, without flashing lights, etc.? 3) I guess the most important thing is the graphics card? Currently I've got a Geforce GTX 580, and I can't say that I've ever been very impressed with the graphics in CMx2, mainly the blur line is very prominent; I've tried tweaking various settings but have never been able to get it right. What are people using with more success? 4) What are the other important factors? How much RAM? I guess no real point in multi-core (there seem to be lots of quad core out there)? SSD? Thanks in advance for any tips.

I don't understand the quoted text--are you suggesting that partisans did not play a role in Bagration or the other campaigns from mid-1944? I think there was plenty of partisan action during the period depicted by the game. And what is the relevance (for the purposes of CMRT) of what Stalin did to them after the war?

I'm a lousy map and scenario maker, but hopefully this resource will allow others to make better use of all of the great work others have done.

I've uploaded an updated version of my CMRT Map Database: Updated CMRT Map Database This version includes more than 50 more maps, more than 200 now in total (although many of those are derivatives of other maps). Map makers, please let me know if I've failed to credit you as author, or have left out some of your maps.

I've uploaded an updated version of my CMRT map database: Updated CMRT Map Database. I've added more than 50 maps since the last version (it's been a while...). For those of you not familiar with it, the database is an Excel spreadsheet which provides information on maps': size, terrain, vegetation, buildings, road networks, water obstacles, and damage. Where known, I've also identified the map's creator. The database also includes images of each map in scenario editor and 3d modes. Here is a screen shot: Note that although most of the maps are from scenarios, the database only covers the map, and not the forces present in the scenario, etc. Be sure to read the Notes tab for an explanation of the various columns. Map makers, please let me know if I haven't credited you for one of your maps, or if I've missed maps that should be included. Note that this is a LARGE file (about 530 mb) because of all the embedded pictures; I tried zipping it but it didn't compress at all, so I didn't bother. While I haven't updated my "Flavor Objects Showroom" database (no need), I thought I'd post that there as well: Flavor Objects Showroom. This is an Excel spreadsheet file which includes labelled pictures of each of the Flavor Objects in the editor; this file is chiefly useful for those wishing to add Flavor Objects when they're creating/editing scenarios. Let me know if you have a problem with the download links, hopefully they will work.

After reading this thread, I went and checked my frame rates with FRAPS--usually I never bother. Sure enough, they were around 30, and I'm OK with that. But one thing I really dislike about this game is the very distinct "blur line" or whatever people call it. Trees/shrubs aren't visible, and fields of yellow flowers turn into bland brown stretches. How to reduce this effect, either by increasing the radius of detail or increasing the amount of detail shown beyond the radius? I've tried playing around with the settings but without much rhyme or reason. Should I focus on the video settings in the game or on my video card? I know nothing about this stuff... Also, do I need to restart the game after changing video settings to see the effects? BTW I've got a 3.4 gig processor/8 gig of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 580. 64bit Win7.

Yes it does--see pages 111-115 of the Engine Manual; you may have been looking at the CMRT specific manual, which just lists the units in CMRT, etc.

I think this is a really bad idea...why reduce the game to the lowest common denominator? If someone has an old/cheap computer, they shouldn't run the big scenarios, or should do so with reduced graphics settings...why ruin it for everyone else?

I'm not sure what that map is, but it sounds like you might have used a scenario map for a quick battle. As I mentioned in my previous posts, to be used in Quick Battles maps need to be "formatted" in the right way, including by having an AI plan and often, a set-up zone. You could take the map from a Gift for Guderian scenario and convert it into a QB map by adding the elements above, but unless you do that it sounds like you'll have odd results.